Tens of thousands of enthusiastic country fans are expected to flood Wildwood, NJ, this weekend for the fourth-annual Barefoot Country Music Festival. While they may or may not be wearing shoes, they’re definitely going to want concert merch.

Attendees of the Barefoot Country Music Festival in Wildwood, NJ, can buy the official branded jean jacket, then visit various drink vendors on site to collect custom patches to decorate it.

Last year, the festival introduced the unique merch option of a customizable jean jacket. Concertgoers could purchase the jacket – which featured a large BCMF logo patch on the back and the emblem of main-stage sponsor Miller Lite embroidered above the front left pocket – then collect patches at sponsored “activation sites” around the venue, which attendees could attach to the jacket to create a personalized look.

Festivalgoers can visit various activation sites at the Barefoot Country Music Festival to collect free patches to adorn their festival-branded jean jacket.

After success – and even more promotion this time around – the denim jackets are back again, with the addition of two women’s-cut options: a white jean jacket and a blue denim vest.

Brand activations have long been a popular way for marketers to connect with consumers at live events. Tying these experiences to unique custom merch builds even more excitement among attendees, says Steve Taylor, owner of Native Sons (asi/281704), the Myrtle Beach, SC-based apparel decorator that supplies branded merch for the festival.

“It gets people to come into the merch tent, which is always good,” Taylor says. “So, they’ll come in there if they’re looking for that specific item, and generally, you’re hoping those people are also going to purchase something else.”

The idea for the jackets came from Molson Coors, parent company of many of the concert’s beverage sponsors. Native Sons sourced the jackets and developed the patch idea, and the BCMF promoters and sponsors picked out the patches.

This year, sponsors includingMiller Lite, Coors Light, Topo Chico Hard Seltzer, Arnold Palmer Spiked, Simply Spiked Lemonade, Blue Moon and Leinenkugel will have “activation sites” where concertgoers aged 21 and older can collect patches.

Taylor says Native Sons has already presold about three times as many jackets online as last year. With the increased promotion and popularity of patches in general right now, he’s expecting to sell double the number of jackets overall this year.

Apparel decorator Native Sons offers an array of merch for the beachside country music festival, including this camo cap with a leather patch.

The jackets, though, make up only a small portion of sales that Native Sons expects to do at BCMF this weekend. From the massive 80-by-40-foot tent out front at the venue, plus the VIP merch location, Taylor and his crew will sell festival-branded hoodies, T-shirts, hats and more, plus all the individual artist merch for each of the festival’s more than 40 performers – altogether accounting for an expected 17,000 to 18,000 transactions.

Screen-printed T-shirts are among the merch available at the Barefoot Country Music Festival.

“If we do our job and really put good product out there, and have a cool-looking merch setup and tent, it elevates the event,” Taylor says. “We’re trying to help their event get better, and that kind of cements our relationship with the promoter, that we’re willing to go out and kind of roll the dice on some program like this.”